2024 General Election Candidate Profile: Dayna-Marie Miles

Via Patch.com

Patch asked candidates for mayor, Manassas City Council and Manassas School Board to fill out a candidate questionnaire with the same questions. Here are some of Dayna-Marie Miles's responses:

Office Sought

Manassas City School Board Candidate

Campaign Website

www.daynamilesforschoolboard.com

Age (As of Nov. 5 election)

43

Education

Masters of Education - Elementary Education, K-12 ESOL certified, Prek-6th Certified, B.S. in Communications with a concentration in Writing and minor in Advertising/PR and Spanish

Occupation

Teacher

Family

I am a single mom of three. I have a senior and a sophomore in high school, and a 6th grader. I am a proud sister of a Navy soon to be Airman. I am the first college graduate on my dad's side. My dad grew up in poverty and struggled until he was able to get a great job to raise our family. My mom was 18 years old when she had me. I am very close to my family. I was raised with a strong faith in God and family. My mom has been a realtor for over 30 years. My dad retired from Metro after working as a bus operator for 35 plus years. My brother is in law enforcement and lives in Bristow with his wife and two kids. My grandmother was an administrator and owned her own school twice, and currently has her own small business in Greenwood, SC. I come from a long line of hardworking individuals who valued family and giving back to the community.

Why are you seeking this office?

My desire is to make an impact in my community by making our schools better for my son and all those who attend Manassas City Public Schools. Families are leaving the City, teachers are leaving the city, and students are not graduating with the knowledge they need to be successful in life. I want to change that. I want the schools to be changed for my son who will be attending Metz and Osbourn soon. I can't afford private education...I have no choice but to send my son to these schools which are not accredited, have discipline problems, no accountability, and have low academic expectations. I intend to make the necessary changes needed, enhance the programs that are working, and talk to our stakeholders about what they are seeing. I am all about solution based discussions.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidate(s) seeking this post?

Four of the candidates do not have school age children, they do not have classroom experience, and they do not think the schools need to change - the grading policy, the absence rate, the lack of communication and accountability with parents and teachers, and the fact that our high school and middle school are not fully accredited should alarm people but for whatever reason my opponents seem to think that things are great in Manassas City. Stop the madness - families are leaving, students are not mastering the concepts, teachers are leaving, and our schools' rating is also effecting our pockets - when you can move across the road to Prince William county buy the same type of house for 100,000 more --something has to change!

What do you see as the top issues facing your city, and how do you address them in your campaign platform?

The Top issues facing our city - Absenteeism - incentives, creating an academic counselor who checks in with students with chronic absenteeism, the grading policy - a committee who evaluates our current grading policy (committee will include teachers, parents, and students) , accreditation - committee to have an action plan towards getting our high school and middle school accredited, Lunch choices - giving more funding to our lunch choices and not just offering the free lunch - seeing who PW uses for their vendor, more training for our cafeteria workers on food options, and communication with parents and teachers - providing weekly check ins for parents, home visits for our 7th grade and 9th graders to build relationships.

My campaign platform is the following - Our schools need stronger discipline, and safer schools, rigorous academic expectations, and keeping great teachers and principals. Schools should work for everyone! - For students - We need to set higher academic and behavioral expectations, the support and tools needed to succeed, consistent consequences and structured discipline - For parents - developing stronger relationships with parents and teachers and developing more community engagement -- For Teachers - I will make sure they are supported and not ignored, giving competitive wages and supporting a strong administration.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I'm a problem solver - I see obstacles and I work through them to get the desired outcome that is best for all involved. I know how to make sure a student succeeds - I have tutored all ages and demographics for over 20 years - I have seen immediate growth when you pair time with experience and focus. I have a proven track record with effective classroom discipline strategies - teaching in both elementary and high school, I implemented open communication strategies with parents that ensured their child's success. I am an advocate for students - when I see a student who needs help I don't push the responsibility to other teachers but I find a way to ensure that student has what they need - in the form of bilingual resources, one on one instruction, a buddy appointed to translate and guide, and the proper testing to check for a possible learning disability if necessary. As a mom and a teacher, I'm not only a provider but also a consumer of education. Before becoming a mom, I worked in the private sector in the communications field - I worked with television professionals, we set deadlines, and worked with noteworthy celebrities - this experience taught me how to keep my composure under pressure and work with all tiers of authority. This valuable experience taught me to find the facts and report them. I have experience doing the research it takes to solve problems, create timelines, and talk to the right people to get the job done.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

For several years, I represented the elementary school I taught at as an Education Association rep and later as a treasurer. I believe that education associations are important in building the teacher's trust in the schools and building strong partnerships with the superintendent and the school board. They have safeguards in place for teachers if they were to need to protect their job based on unfounded accusations.

My teaching experience began in 2008 when I was given my first teaching job as a Spanish Teacher. I created an elementary Spanish program for K to 5th grade. Later in the year I transitioned to being a high school Spanish teacher. I have led children's programing at my home church in Virginia and Maryland. I have worked with families, teachers and volunteers to provide training, schedules and guidance in emergency situations. I was a stay at home mom for 4 years before becoming a teacher in 2013. I had two little girls when I went back to school to get my Masters in Education. I obtained my masters when my son was 9 months old and my girls were 6 and 4. It was a journey but I know what it takes to burn the midnight oil and put your all into accomplishing the goal you set out to finish. For 8 years, I placed foreign exchange students with host families for the year. This gave me the experience needed to tackle those hard conversations, talk to parents of high schoolers, and be willing to stand in the gap for students who were not able to voice their concerns to their host family. I also took two sets of students to NYC to give them the opportunity to experience the Big Apple. I also am an active participant in my faith community. I have worked for the past 4 years as an ESOL coordinator providing English classes for the Manassas City community at East End Mobile Home Park, Georgetown South, and a recent partnership with Beacon. Community outreach is at the heart of all I do. I have created programs for children, youth and adults that enhanced their connection to their faith community. My desire is to use all the experience I have working with parents, students, and teachers to make our schools the best they can be! Our children deserve it! Our parents deserve it! And our teachers deserve it!

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